Cost of Writing a Will

[shipgirl]

Just curious how much it costs to have a lawyer write a will? I got a quote for $500 for both my husband and I. We live in Texas and was wondering if this is reasonable. Thanks for the help. Now off to introduce myself....

[Mom2Cole]

My husband and I both had wills done last year through a lawyer, here in Nebraska, and we paid $220.00 for both wills. :)

[MrsSmith]

There's a computer program you can buy for about $99 that can write the document, and other legal documents, for you. Then you can have it notarized. The program was written by a lawyer and has disks for different states where laws may vary somewhat.

[Mindy3094]

Around here, you are probably looking at around $200 for both.

[shipgirl]

Thank you ladies! $500 seemed a bit expensive.

[Trillian]

If you belong to a church, you might want to ask your pastor if the denomination provides any kind of service like this. I know the Evangelical Methodist denomination has people who come around and do wills for free.

[LeighW]

Are you in a major city? How much experience does the attorney have? Final question: do you have any complicated issues?

If your answer to any of the above is "yes," $500 does not sound unreasonable to me.

Around here, Washington, DC metro area, $800-1,000 is the going rate for noncomplex wills, medical powers of attorney, etc. for a married couple.

I am an attorney, so I have some idea of what the market is like. :)

My unsolicited advice: make sure the person has experience. Do not just go with the cheapest price. The reality of a will is that, by the time someone is trying to follow it, you will not be around to clarify what you intended, or to resolve a clerical or notarization error that might invalidate the whole thing. Do what you can to ensure it's perfect and perfectly drafted by choosing an experienced and trustworthy attorney.

[calliope_muses]

Have you checked with your or your hubby's employer? The company I work for (I'm in insurance) offers some legal service free and discounted rates all around.

[amew]

$500 sounds completely reasonable to me if you are using an attorney with experience in the field. If you have any complicated issues, I would expect it to be more.

[mom_to_zoe]

We just had husband and wife wills, medical and financial powers-of-attorney and a trust set up for our daughter for $900. That seems to be the going rate around here.

What is your goal in having a will done? If you are married without kids, your spouse would inherit your entire estate whether you have a will or not. So the reason to have a will would be if you had kids so you could name a guardian. In that case, I would strongly suggest you have a testamentary trust established for your child's benefit. Trusts are very simple and not just for the rich; they simply ensure that the assets of your estate go into a trust with an adult trustee so that that person can provide for your child financially while he or she is still under age.

And also, I would strongly suggest powers-of-attorney so your husband can make your medical decisions if you are incapacitated and provide for you financially if you become disabled. No one wants a Terri Schiavo situation to happen to them.

[Camdynlyn]

I have Prepaid Legal through work and they do wills for free--- $20 if you need to update them.

[shipgirl]

Wow ladies! I have been out sick. Thanks for all of the advice :D . To answer a few questions yes we do live in a major city Houston, TX. The purpose for the will is mostly to name a guardian for kids if something happens to my DH and I. I am confused on whether we need the trust or just the will. This lawyer who quoted me the $500 said "assuming your assests are under $1M" then you just need the will. When my DH and I thought about it we said what if with our house, 401ks, and investments we go over this $1M at some point? Why is this the magic number? I guess I just need to sit down and talk with this lawyer (provided he has experience) and try to understand what we actually need. Thanks again!

[LeighW]

$1 million (actually, it's $1.1 million or $1.2 million--it goes up a bit each year for the short term) is the estate tax exemption amount. There is no federal estate tax for estates under that amount. So, you would not need a trust for estate tax minimization purposes.

However, a trust is a good idea if you want to set up some guidlines about how the guardians will use the money for your children, if they are minors. Also, you might want to put limits on whether your children can access the money on their own. I would talk to the attorney about the benefits and drawbacks of setting up a trust.

[mom_to_zoe]

My understanding is that the federal estate tax exemption has or is about to change to $2 million. Remember that means that only the part of your estate that exceeds $2 million is amenable to estate taxes.

My guess is the lawyer you were talking to was referring to an insurance trust. What we are discussing is a testamentary trust.

As LeighW said, a trust is really a separate issue. It is sinmply a way for your children's guardian to provide for their needs more easily because it puts the money from your estate in a trust that the trustee draws from, for thei kids' benefit only, until the kids are old enough to manage the money for themselves. We put our estate in trust for our DD until she reaches 23. It is very easy to do and a much more sensible way to provide for your kids than leaving them the money from your estate outright.